A well kept secret
by ryro-fanfiction-x3
Summary: The son of a rich couple is born with the curse. With the help of his family and friends he will learn to ajust, accept himself and perhaps find love. Better that it sounds!Ch 4 has been posted.Please review!
1. chapter 1

The cries of a newborn child could be heard from almost any place in the mansion.

His son had been born.

It was such a strange feeling; being a father. Theo never would have imagined that one day he would take on such an important role.

He was happy but extremely overwhelmed.

He took his time walking up the stairs. He wanted to savor the moment, because it wouldn't last. It would end as soon as it began.

As he got closer to the nursery, he noticed something that could be described as unusual.

Everyone was silent.

They were avoiding his gaze, as if they all knew something he didn't. This seemed odd he thought; this should be a joyful event.

He couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.

Was it his wife? Had the delivery been so painful, so difficult that she had not made it?

Or was it his son? Was he sick? Theo had heard the infant's cries, so he knew the worst possible scenario had not happened. Or did it?

As he entered the room, the first thing he saw was his wife, and the guilt driven look on her face.

As he got closer to the bed, he understood everything.

The staff's unusual behavior, the unwillingness to meet his eyes and his wife's expression; the way she looked at him, with guilt and sorrow in her eyes.

When he saw his son for the first time, the once anticipated moment had turned into a nightmare filled with pure horror and disgust.

What lay in his wife's arms was in fact a baby. A newborn baby boy.

But the child wasn't human.

He looked like an animal, with light brown fur covering his tiny body.

He had a tail and ears like a dogs

An animal snout and paws instead of hands.

How could this happen?

''Theo, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!''

He could barely hear the sound of her voice. He was in shock; His eyes still fixed on the small creature cradled in his wife's arms.

He walked closer to the bed, just to be able to get a closer look at the baby.

The boy had pale blue eyes. Theo hadn't noticed until now.

He didn't look so vicious; he thought

He reached out his hand and touched the top of his head. His fur was so soft, it was almost enough to make him forget the gravity of the situation.

''Mary, what are we going to do?'' he asked, voice shaking

'' I don't know. I want to keep him but I'm not sure we can.''

She had a point. What would people think if they found out about the baby? What would they do? The child would surely be confiscated, taken to a lab somewhere to become nothing more than a unique specimen just waiting to be experimented on.

And of course, his reputation would be tarnished. He would lose everything he worked so hard to gain.

But then again, how hard could it be to hide a baby?

Sure, some people were looking forward to seeing their little bundle of joy for the first time. He had to find a way to fix the problem; But what?

Then an absolutely crazy idea came to him.

'' We could fake his death. People wouldn't ask questions if they thought he'd died and it would be easy for us to hide him.''

She looked at him and contemplated what he said. His offer sounded logical, but she had to be sure that the plan would work; for all their sakes.

The first thing the y would have to do is pay their staff into silence, in order to insure complete secrecy over the matter.

This would be the easy part.

The rest would have to be carefully planned.

.


	2. Chapter 2

Paying off the staff was an easy thing. They had taken the extra money without any questions and seemed to understand Theo and Mary's intentions. Some of them even offered to stay and help with the baby and the preparations to keep his existence a secret.

After a few weeks, life at the mansion had almost returned to normal. Things were shaping up to be much easier than expected. But there were some issues that were more difficult to deal with than others.

The fact that they couldn't take their son with them anywhere was hard, especially on Mary. She had grown so attached to her little boy. She could hardly leave him for a few hours without feeling guilty.

She spent every moment she could with him.

They had a hard time finding a name for the boy, but after a while they finally settled for a name that they both found appropriate.

Damien

The name had been suggested by a member of the staff, Nina, a young woman of 19 years who acted as the ''nanny'' and the caregiver for the baby when his parents were absent.

It did suit him well, and everyone agreed.

What Nina didn't tell the proud parents is that Damien was her brother's name. He had passed away when he was a child. And somehow, this baby reminded her of him. It was an odd feeling. As far as she could tell, these two had nothing in common. It was far too early to tell. There was no way of knowing what kind of person Damien would become. Secretly, she hoped that he would be like her little brother; being a sweet little boy that everyone loved to have around.

In a few short months, she had grown attached to the little one. He was such a joy; she understood why Mary never wanted to leave him behind. Damien was constantly happy, and she made sure that things wouldn't change. She played with him, gave him all the attention he needed and spent as much time with him as possible. Nina had become like his big sister, and in many ways, she was.

She was also extremely protective of him, and Mary was grateful for it. Mary trusted her because of it. She always felt at ease when her youngest staff member was taking care of Damien. She never hesitated to ask her advice even though Nina had so little experience with children.

There was one incident that neither of them would ever forget.

It was a few months after Mary gave birth. Damien was already much larger than an average 6 month old child, and clearly showed signs of a gifted mind. He was incredibly curious; fascinated with the things around him. He also loved stories, always looking forward to his mother reading to him before bed.

He was left alone in the mansion's library for a while.

It was his first time being alone in the library. He didn't seem to notice that he was by himself; even so, it wouldn't have bothered him so much.

He sat on the floor, looking at books, watching the bright and colourful pictures on the pages.

He hadn't noticed that another child was in the library with him. The child was called Simon; he was the son of William Owens, one of the staff members.

The boy was watching Damien intensively; no one had ever told him about the baby, or informed him of his physical state. He has awestruck; completely baffled by what he was seeing. So many questions were going through his head.

"What was that thing?"

"Was it some kind of pet?"

"Why was it ''reading''?"

"Was it going to hurt me if I came out of the shadows?"

The place was already dark, limited lights were turned on so it was easy for Simon to keep his presence a secret from the tiny creature that he would later call Damien.

He didn't know for how long he sat there, just watching the younger boy. It seemed like hours, and for a moment he thought that it would never end.

Suddenly, Damien lifted his head and looked towards Simon. Even though he couldn't see him because of the shadows, he was sure that he heard something.

Was someone here? He asked himself.

Even though Damien wasn't yet capable of speech, he was remarkably intelligent for his age and understood things quite well.

And he was smart and observant enough to know when he wasn't alone in a room.

He drifted his attention away from the books and focused on the sound he was hearing. He could clearly hear someone breathing in the room, and it wasn't him. He started crawling on all fours, exploring the room and following the sound he was hearing, curiosity getting the best of him and found the source.

Simon was hiding under a desk, obviously scared.

Damien could easily see him, but didn't know how to get to him. He had always been social; everyone who worked at the mansion knew that and weren't bothered by it. In fact some of them even enjoyed spending time with the boy. He never really got to experience socializing with a child, either close to his age or not. Simon was 5 years old, but it was impossible for Damien to realize that.

All he knew is that he had a friend hiding under that desk.

And he wanted to reach that friend.

Damien peaked under the desk to take a look.

Simon started crying even harder.

He was confused. Had he done something to him? He didn't, as far as he knew.

He had done nothing wrong. So why was the other boy acting this way? Why was he crying?

It was so strange for little Damien. No one had ever acted this way around him. No one had ever cried after seeing him. Why was this time any different?

He tried to crawl under the desk but was interrupted by Simon's hysterical cries.

Then William, Simon's father, came rushing through the door.

He was angry, extremely angry. His tone was enough to terrorize Damien, who was too young to understand what was really happening.

Owens was very upset. He had been so careful. Ever since the creature was born, he had made efforts not to expose his son to that vile thing. He didn't want his son to be traumatized or disturbed by the younger boy.

He was alone to raise his son, and he wanted what was best for him; as any other parent would.

That was the reason why he decided to start working for Theo Mercier, rich but honest man, who treated his employees well, and offered a great salary in return for their services. William Owens did many things around the mansion, but mostly he took care of the library.

Keeping it organized and easy to use for his employer and his wife.

It wasn't a difficult task, as his son helped him occasionally. He would sometimes bring him to work along with him, but he was always careful not to expose him to his employer's freakish son. He had been informed, just like any other staff member of Damien's unique physical condition.

At first, it was hard to believe, but he soon changed his mind after he saw him for the first time. He had never witnessed anything like it. It was without a doubt, the most disturbing thing he had ever seen.

What kind of illness was that? What would have caused this to happen?

The nanny didn't know the answers and didn't seem disgusted or repulsed by the child she was holding in her arms. No doubt that she had taken care of him since he was born; he thought.

And now all his attempts at keeping his son from coming contact with this creature had failed. Simon was terrified, and the damned thing was responsible for it.

As he walked towards the desk with determination, he noticed something.

The creature was crying as well.

He could feel his heart swelling at the sight, but it didn't last long. It was a threat to his son and as a father, he had to intervene. He had to pull his son out of this situation.

He got closer to the desk, completely ignoring Damien crying softly on the floor, and reached out to his son. Simon, overwhelmed by emotions, jumped into his father's arms.

''It tried to get me! '' He cried ''I was so scared. Did it go away?''

''it's still there son, but it won't hurt you, I promise.'' Owens said, still staring at Damien with hate filled eyes.

''Let's get you out of here, alright? '' He said

''Yes, please!'' said the frightened five year old

Owens hurriedly carried his son out of the door, never once looking back at the baby still crying on the floor.

Damien was left alone for a few more minutes until Nina came to get him. She sat with him on the floor and just stared at him. He crawled into her lap and snuggled close to her. He wanted to be held, to be comforted; since she was the only one there with him, he took his chances. He knew her, le loved her, and he knew that she wouldn't push him away.

Nina had seen enough of the scene to understand why Damien was upset. She was too but refused to let it show. She had a job to do and she would do it perfectly. Her job was to take care of him and if she let herself feel too much, it would compromise her line of work.

She would however, mention this to his parents. This had to be dealt with efficiently and effectively; to prevent something like this from happening again. Owens would be reprimanded for his behaviour; she would make sure of that.

She was sad that Damien's first encounter with another child had gone so badly. She wanted him to have friends, to socialize, but it wasn't easy. If only she could find another child, boy or girl closer to his age. Maybe it wouldn't be as frightening for the other one if they knew each other from that early on.

It was another thing that she would have to mention to Theo and Mary.

I'm sure that deep down they would agree. All of them had Damien's best interest at heart, but she knew that finding a way to make this happen wouldn't be easy. Not every parent would agree to let their young child play with Damien.

Most of them would never consider such a thing. Some of them would call the three crazy for it.

''What if he harms them?''

''How is he going to react to another child? ''

''Is he dangerous?''

''Does he need a playmate? He is a monster after all!''

Gosh! So many stupid questions came to mind. She understood why these questions had to be asked. She cared about Damien very deeply and it hurt her to see him going through this. It was however, inevitable.

She would do her best to find a playmate for Damien. She was sure that the whole thing wasn't impossible.

She would do her best to make it happen.


	3. Chapter 3

The conversation with Damien's parents had gone better than expected. What Nina suggested, they took into serious consideration.

She was happy with the results, and she did mention the incident involving William Owens and his son.

Theo was angry but tried his best to maintain control of himself. He promised that he would have a very serious talk with Owens in the following hours.

The conversation between Theo Mercier and William Owens hadn't been as explosive as most of the staff had expected. It had been surprisingly civilized, considering the nature of it. The entire staff had been told the same thing. Any incident of that sort wouldn't be tolerated.

Theo had had enough of that kind of drama, but somehow he had the feeling like this was only the beginning of it.

Especially if he considered Nina's offer: a playmate for his son. It did sound right to him. The boy would have to socialize with children his age at some point. But it was easier said than done. As far as he knew, no one else on his staff had a child his age, and he couldn't think of anything else to do.

He had run out of ideas very easily, but he was sure that his wife and the nanny would think of something.

They would also have to have the parent's consent, if it were to happen that a suitable playmate should be found. He couldn't just grab a child somewhere and expect everything to go well.

Life just didn't work like that.

But then again, life gave him a son that wasn't normal by any means.

He let out a frustrated groan. This wasn't going to end well, he knew it.

Nina was busier than she'd ever been; all because of William Owens and his unnecessary outburst. She resented him for making a scene, for reacting the way he did; for making Damien cry. The whole thing was beyond words. Did he not realize that Damien was just a baby; an innocent child who didn't yet realize that he was different? They had tried so hard to shield him from those negative experiences, but sometimes the ''threat'' was closer than one could imagine. She had made a promise to keep him secure, to watch over him. Nina felt as if she had failed. She felt guilty, if only she had stayed with him, if only Owens had never brought his son to work…

It was too late to contemplate this now. She remembered everything so clearly, but for Damien, it was so far away. He didn't seem to recall the events that happened only a week ago. He remained unaffected, undamaged, and for that she was grateful. As his Nanny, it was her job to keep things like this from happening again, and she would do whatever it took to make sure it wouldn't.

Taking care of Damien wasn't all that difficult, but the consequences of his physical state were getting increasingly difficult to deal with. She would have wanted things to be easier; but sadly, that wasn't the case. Nina would have loved to be able to take him places, to venture with him in the outside world. She knew it wasn't possible; he would never truly be part of that world.

The human world.

She wasn't the only one affected by that fact. Damien's parents, Theo and Mary Mercier, were thinking in similar terms. They wanted to do things with their son, take him places, expose him to new people, but they couldn't. People wouldn't accept him; they wouldn't understand.

God only know what would happen if the wrong people were to know that such a child existed.

Just thinking about something like this was enough to make everyone nauseous.

It would be everyone's worst nightmare!

Nina snapped at one point. She had grown tired of Mr. Mercier's constant babble about this. She didn't want to be reminded of what could happen if things went wrong; if their plan would fail; if they wouldn't be successful in their attempts to keep Damien safe.

Finding a suitable child for Damien to play with wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. They had cast out William Owens son, Simon, as a possibility. Even if his father would agree, Simon still appeared shaken by the event, but not severely. Damien's parents didn't want to take any chances. They wanted to start over, and try to look elsewhere for a friend for their son.

After only a few weeks, they let out a sigh of relief.

Mary received a rather disturbing phone call early in the morning.

Her childhood friend, Sasha Parisien had died in a car accident. What was most unusual was the fact that Sasha had put Mary on the list of possible candidates to become the legal guardian of her daughter if ever something were to happen to her. As the lawyer described the testament to her, he discretely informed Mary that none of the other people on the list had wanted to take custody of her daughter.

Rose was only 2 years old; too much trouble; the others had said.

Mary weighted in her options. Was this the right thing to do? After all, she hadn't spoken to Sasha in well over 4 years. It seemed like the right thing to do, for Sasha, for Rose, for everyone. She was already taking care of a child, so one more in her care would be much trouble.

Then she remembered.

Damien.

They wanted to find a child his own age for him to play with.

If something good came from this undeniable tragedy, then she was glad.

She would first have to discuss this with her husband and ask Nina for advice. Would they agree? Or would they think negatively of the fact that she was trying to take advantage of this situation, of Rose. She hoped that they would understand.

She didn't want to spend forever searching for a friend for her son. At first, it did seem hopeless. She doubted that they would actually find one any time soon, if ever. Receiving that phone call in the middle of the night was a blessing in disguise. She hoped that her husband and the other staff members would have the same thought.

Discussing this with Nina had been easy. She had agreed to the whole thing without hesitation, as the other staff members. Her husband had listened carefully and had a similar reaction.

Rose would be welcomed in the family. She would be taken care of; given anything she needed and would receive the very best for a little girl her age.

And she would become the friend that Damien never knew he had been waiting for.


	4. Chapter 4

Adjusting to her new life at the mansion had been easy for Rose.

Her adjustment had gone very well, better that expected. After a week, it was as if she had always been there.

She had yet to come in contact with Damien. And it was deliberate.

Theo, Mary and Nina wanted to wait for things to get settled first.

In truth, they didn't want to rush things too quickly. They didn't want to relive their previous experience.

Damien and Rose were completely unaware of each other's existence. They were being taken care of by different people on opposite sides of the mansion.

For now that was the arrangement, but Damien's parents hope that that would change soon.

Mary was getting restless. She hoped that her plan would work. In a way, this whole thing had been so convenient for them; especially for Damien. She felt guilty that she had hardly taken the girl's welfare into consideration. Maybe it was selfish to involve an innocent child into this mess.

Damien was an innocent child and he was stuck into this mess; she thought bitterly.

She hoped that she had made the right choice, not only for Rose but for Damien as well. She wanted things to work out between the two; she wanted them to become the greatest of friends. She had been so worried that things wouldn't work out. She had feared the worst; that her son would be all alone forever.

Now there was another child, who was still so young, so oblivious to what was about to happen. Mary hoped that her innocence and her lack of experience would work in their favor; that it would make it somehow easier for her to adapt to Damien and his rather unique physique.

She knew that Damien would really enjoy her company. He loved playing with others and always looked forward to new activities. At 10 months old, he was already the size of a 2 year old; with equal strength and intelligence. He would require supervision when playing with Rose, but Damien had always been gentle. He had never been rough or aggressive, which would be surprising considering his beastly nature. Mary wasn't worried about him potentially hurting Rose. If that were to happen, it would be purely by accident.

To be honest, she was more worried about how Rose was going to react. She hardly knew anything about the child. As of now, she had been pleased by what she saw, but it wasn't a guarantee that the girl was going to get along with her son.

There wasn't a lot of ways for them to find out. She would soon have to be in contact with Damien.

Organizing was a relatively easy thing to do. Predicting how things would unfold was much more difficult.

Everyone was anxious to see what would happen next.

To everyone's relief, everything had gone even better than anticipated. Rose was surprisingly comfortable with Damien. She didn't have any negative responses; she didn't seem afraid or alarmed. It was relieving for everyone; especially Damien's parents.

And of course, Damien couldn't have been happier.

After being alone for a while, he was glad to have someone his own age to play with. He was gentle with her, as if he knew that she was more fragile than he was. He enjoyed her company, and his parents were relieved, as was Nina. It was as if they had always been together.

The time they had spent together had been free of any incidents, much to everyone's relief. Damien's parents felt like a burned had been lifted off of their shoulders. They wouldn't have to worry about Damien being alone anymore.

Unless…

I hate leaving cliffhangers but I have a good reason. I promise!

I'm leaving school for 2 weeks and until I can get a new laptop (yes mine died!) I won't be able to update. I will however start writing chap. 5 on paper. I expect the fifth chapter to be finished early in September. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this story!

Thank you for your patience!

Until next time!

R-F-X3


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